Not Just a Temp

Abstract

This article explores why nurses employed at public hospitals decide to work as temporary agency workers rather than working as permanent staff. It also considers their experiences of further training and learning opportunities. The research is based on participatory observations and narrative interviews. The focus of the study is partly on the social context at the work place, and partly on the personal experiences and intentions influencing the nurses’ way of relating to their job and their working conditions. The analytical framework used to identify the temping nurses’ reasoning and practices draws on Etienne Wenger’s understanding of learning as a social process developed the interaction with others in communities of practice. The analysis concludes that the nurses choose temporary work as a reaction to the high work pressure at the hospitals caused by recent changes in the health sector. It seems that employment as a temporary worker is a response not only to work pressure, but also represents a way for nurses to exploit the possibilities at hand to create a satisfactory work/life balance. Our study questions the general conclusion derived from international studies that the temping nurse is “Just a temp” – a marginalised worker used to achieve organisational flexibility. Although our study points to the vulnerabilities in temping such as lower influence and decreased job security, it also suggests that these vulnerabilities are far from a complete description of working as a temporary agency nurse in Denmark. Indeed, the interviewed temping nurses experience that they can combine a satisfying and challenging job with more control over their work/life balance situation. This is largely down to their limited responsibility towards the workplace along with their strong profession, and various legal rights.